PLDs have increasingly proliferated in many areas of technology, such as data processing and signal processing applications. The flexibility of the PLD and the ability to re-configure the PLD have in part led to their popularity. System designers and even system end-users can program the PLDs and re-configure the functionality of part or all of the system, thus avoiding costly and time-consuming re-design of the system.
The increased utility and flexibility of PLDs, however, has given rise to complex circuitry within the PLDs as well as advanced packaging for the PLDs. To take advantage of the desirable properties of the PLDs, designers and end-users use increasingly sophisticated PCBs. The PCBs not only accommodate the advanced packaging of the PLDs, but also other circuitry that operate in conjunction with the PLDs to implement complex circuitry, such as systems on programmable chips (SOPC).
As part of the overall design or system production, the manufacturer or producer of the design or system tests the PCBs to determine their reliability. Conventional reliability determination of PCBs, however, entails relatively high costs. Furthermore, conventional reliability determination techniques fail to use the actual PLDs that reside on final PCBs supplied to customers or end-users.